HELEN DEAN
Painter

HOW WERE YOU FIRST INTRODUCED TO THIS TYPE OF WORK AND WHAT DID YOU ENJOY ABOUT YOUR EARLY EXPLORATION OF IT?

I was introduced to abstract art as an art student in the 1990’s. I liked that I could  focus on how I applied paint to the canvas, experiment with brushwork and how colours worked together. I enjoyed the freedom of abstract painting and wanted my work to be about this rather than about representing something else.

HOW HAS YOUR WORK CHANGED AND DEVELOPED OVER THE YEARS? WHAT FACTORS DO YOU THINK AFFECTED THIS?

I took up painting again in 2015, after a gap of twenty years. I started off with simple colourful shapes on paper on paper and then moved to acrylic on canvas. That first year rediscovering painting was so valuable. I had the  freedom to try out lots of ideas with no-one watching.  I did lots of experimenting and created a lot of paintings, but they looked to me as if they were produced by different artists. Gradually, I learnt what I liked and what worked and my paintings began to share some qualities and look more consistent. Over the last couple of years I’ve tried to learn from what I have created, to push ideas further and at the moment I’m working on a series of works, rather than one off paintings.

My work has become more complex lately as I play with layering and overlapping brushstrokes. I feel like I’m playing and learning every time I go into the studio.

PLEASE DESCRIBE WHERE YOU WORK FROM? WHAT DO YOU FIND SPECIAL ABOUT LIVING OUT WEST?

I work from a room underneath our house in Titirangi with a view of the bush garden. Before moving out west, 3 years ago, we were  living in an  apartment in the cbd and my view was the stairwell of the next building. Now there are Kauri, Rimu, Punga outside my window and I can open up the windows and hear the sound of the native birds. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to live so close to nature, even in the rain the bush  is stunning, and looks all misty and mysterious.

WHAT CAN VISITORS EXPECT TO SEE WHEN THEY POP BY YOUR STUDIO DURING OPEN STUDIOS WAITAKERE?

They will be able to follow the signs and enter my studio through the garden. They will see a painting studio with lots of paint drips  on the walls and  paintings of different sizes, some finished and  some in progress. I will have a normal studio day and will be working across a few paintings. I’ll put some smaller works on paper for sale at studio prices out on a table for people to have a look through. 

Map Number: 7
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Photography by Sarah Allen